Holder for writing instruments



March 1, 1960 M. l. DIECK HQLDER FOR WRITING INSTRUMENTS Filed Jan. 28, 1959 INVENTOR MCLT'LQTU I. Dzech? ATTORNEY n te S t s at 2,926,790 HOLDER FOR WRITING INSTRUMENTS Marian Dieck, Swartz Creek, Mich. Application January 28, 1959, Serial No. 139,567

s Claims. (Cl. 211-69) 'The present invention relates to holders for convenientlysupporting pencils, pensand like slender instruments when not in use.

, An object of the invention is to provide a holder of the above indicated character which can be easily at tached to a vertically arrangedwalblike surface, and which is adapted .to support an instrument on substantially a horizontal plane parallel with and in close proximity to the surface on which the holder is attached.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a holder of the character set forth, an instrument gripping element held in a novel position for applying sufllcient yieldable pressure on opposite sides of the instrument to normally hold the same against movement, yet being of a nature permitting convenient removal of'the instrument from the holder. I

A further object of the invention is to provide in a device of this character, a novel casing constructed of sheet material blanked and formed intoa-"shape for holding the yieldable gripping element in proper position and for attachment of the holder to awall surface. I

A still further object of the inventionis to-provide a sheet material casing of a construction that permits the assembling therein of a flat'resilient gripping element flexed into substantially a U-shape and mained in operative position in said casing because of its resiliency.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a device of the above-indicated character which is extremely simple and substantial in construction, economical to manufacture, and thoroughly efiicient and practical in use.

These, together with various auxiliary features and objects of the invention which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved holder showing a pencil in dash and dot lines supported therey;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the holder;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 in Figure 2, showing a pencil in cross section;

Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3, showing the resilient gripping element in the act of being as- .sembled into the casing;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the resilient gripping element showing in full lines its position prior to assembly in the casing and showing in dash and dot lines its position when assembled in the casing; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the casing of the holder in its blanked form and showing in dotted lines where it is folded to provide an enclosure for the gripping element.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, the numeral 10 indicates generally a casing constructed from a single piece of 2,926,790 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 ice , 2 thin sheet material (see Figure. 6) blanked and formed into a box-like structure, :consisting of a. front wall 11, a rear wall 12, a pair of identical side walls 13, a top wall '14, and a bottom wall 15.

viding for the various walls, the single piece of sheet material also includes a rearwardly positioned upstanding flange 16 extending from the top wall outward directed side flanges 17 extending wall 12, a downwardly directed tab rear wall 12, and a plurality of inwardly directed attaching flanges 19 extending from the pair of side walls 13 for permanent securement to other of said walls in any of various approved methods so as to maintain the easing in its box-like formation. Attention is again directed to Figure 6 wherein it will be noted that the same reference characters used to designate the different parts of the box-like casing have been applied on the respective areas of the blank, and in addition thereto diferent right angle folds to the flat blank separating the different walls, flanges, etc., have been indicated by dotted lines 20.

The upstanding flange 16, outwardly directed side flanges 17, and the downwardly turned tab 18 are all on the same vertical plane as that of the rear wall 12 for stabilizing the support of the. casing by engagement against a vertical wall surface, there being apertures 21 and 22 in the upstanding flange 16 and the down turned tab 18, respectively, through which screws, nails or like elements, not shown, may extend for holding the casing on the wall surface.

"Extending transverselyand entirely across the top wall 14 and down the side walls 13 to locations in close proximity to the bottom wall 15 is a slot. 23 .of a uniform width slightly greater than the ordinary diameter of the shank portion of a pencil on, pen for receiving the same therein, as indicated by the numeral 24 and shown in dash and dot lines in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 3. The slot 23 in the top wall '14 and side walls 13 is located substantially midway between and 14, a pair of from the rear 18 struck from the parallel with the front wall 11 and rear wall 12 and.

separates the forward upper portion and the rearward upper portion of the casing from one another.

Within the casing 10 and supported in operative posi- "on by contact with the inner surfaces of its walls is a resilient U-shaped element 25 made of sponge rubber or similar yieldahle material for frictionally engaging a writing instrument extended through the slot 23. The U-shaped element 25 is positioned in the casing 10 with the bight portion 26 thereof in the lower non-slotted portion of the casing and with its pair of opposite parallel legs 27 extending upwardly into different disjoined upper portions of said casing, as more clearly shown in Figure 3, Also, as shown in Figure 3, the adjacent sides of the parallel legs 27 are spaced a less distance apart than the disjoined upper portions of the casing so as to yieldably engage said legs with the opposite sides of a writing instrument positioned therebetween and thereby bodily support said instrument.

In Figure 5 the resilient -U-shaped element 25 is shown in full lines as being formed from a substantially flat slab of resilient material '28 flexed within its elastic limit into a U-shape, as shown in dash and dot lines. The material '28 while in its free flat state is fed through the slot 23 in the upper wall 14 of the casing, as shown in Figure 4, and because of the rounded corner 28 between the front wall 11 and bottom wall 15 the advanced end of said material is guided upwardly, thus causing said material to assume a U-shape when fed entirely within the casing. Such a U-shape is maintained by confinement with the hollow box-like casing and the elastic tendency of the resilient slab to resume its original flat formation.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunc- In addition to pro tion with the accompanying drawing, it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation, and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to others familiar with this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodi ment of the invention, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and full intendment of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A holder for supporting a writing instrument when not in use, said holder comprising a hollow box-like structure having its upper forward portion disjoined from its upper rearward portion, flared flanges on said boxlike structure for supporting the same in an upright po sition, and a U-shaped resilient element in said box-like structure with its eight portion in the lower portion of the structure and with its pair of opposite parallel leg portions extending upwardly into different disioined upper portions of said structure, said U-shaped resilient element having the adjacent sides of its parallel legs spaced a less, distance apart than the disjoined upper portions of said structure so as to yieldably engage said legs with opposite sides of a writing instrument positioned therebetween and extending to opposite sides thereof.

2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the U-shaped resilient element is formed from a substantially flat slab of resilient material'flexed within its elastic limit into a U-shape and held in operative U-shaped position by confinement within the hollow box-like structure and the elastic tendency to resume its original flat formation.

3. A holder for supporting a writing instrument when not in use, said holder comprising a casing constructed of sheet material blanked and formed into a hollow boxlike structure having its upper forward portion disjoined from its upper rearward portion, flared flanges on the rearward portion of said casing for supporting and attaching the same against a vertical wall surface, and a substantially flat slab of resilient material flexed intermediate its ends into substantially a U-shape formation with the bight portion of said U-shape in the lower portion of the casing and with its opposite parallel leg portions extending upwardly into diiferent upper portions of the casing, said U-shaped resilient material having the adjacent sides of its parallel legs spaced a less distance apart than the disjoined upper portions of said casing so as to yieldably engage said legs with opposite sides of a writing instrument positioned therebetween. and extending to Opposite sidesof thecasing,

4. A holder for supporting a writing instrument when not in use, said holder comprising a casing constructed of sheet material blanked and formed into a hollow boxlike structure having a forward wall, a rearward wall, a pair of side walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall united to one another, said top and side walls having a slot extending entirely across the top Wall and down the major portions of the side walls so as to disjoin the pe f wa d p rti n. 0f th bq i se struc u i n; its upper rearward portion and thereby provide an upward open recess into which the shank of a writing instru ment can be placed, and a resilient U-shaped element in said hox like structure with its bight portion in the lower non-slotted'portion of the casing and with its pair of opposite'parallel legs extending upwardly into different disjoined upper portions of the casing, said resilient U- shaped element being held against movement by the walls of the casing and having the adjacent sides of its parallel legs spaced for yieldable engagement with opp t si e of he s k of a ri n ns m nt PQ tioned therehetween.

5. holder as defined in claim 4, wherein the U- shaped resilientelernent is formed from a substantially fiat slab of resilient material assembled through the slot P rt on in th t p Wa 9 t sing an flexed Within i s e a tic limi n a, -s ap References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,467,251 Bowman Apr. 12 1949 2,511,735 Patterson June 16, 1950 2,774,481 S ievers Dec. 18, 1956 wan...- 

